Sterling artist sticks with saintly work

STERLING HEIGHTS — Sterling Heights resident Marie Mattos has a unique way of making prominent saints in Catholic Church history stick in your mind.

Mattos is the city of Sterling Heights’ Featured Artist for May and June. Her collection of religious illustrations — as well as her sticker designs of Catholic saints, known as SaintSprouts — are on display during that period in a showcase on the Sterling Heights Community Center’s second floor.   

Mattos said she saw a notice in the newspaper about the program and decided to apply. She said she heard back a couple of months later.

“I was really floored that they gave me an opportunity,” she said. “It’s a huge opportunity, so I thought someone else might be picked.”

SaintSprouts is Mattos’ collection of illustrated vinyl stickers that depict Catholic saints. The stickers are meant to be durable and weatherproof, so they can stick and stay on laptops, water bottles and more and not easily corrode if wet.

Mattos said her designs are meant to appeal to kids and adults to teach them about prominent people in church history in a fun, friendly way. Examples include saints Therese of Lisieux, Francis Xavier, Josephine Bakhita, Kateri Tekakwitha and Juan Diego.

Mattos said she initially started drawing the most popular, well-known saints. Then she started to explore and intentionally pick lesser-known saints from around the world, including from Asia and Africa. She said one of her favorite saints in the SaintSprouts collection is Kateri Tekakwitha, a Native American saint.

“She was probably the most fun for me to make,” she said.

Mattos said she has been successful in marketing and selling the SaintSprouts stickers. She explained that she has sold them on Etsy all across the U.S. She added that she also has sold them at local craft shows and some Catholic retail shops.

“I initially started in downtown Detroit at Our Lady of the Rosary,” she said. “They had a little artist market over there.”

Mattos was raised in metro Detroit and graduated from Michigan State University in studio art with a graphic design focus. When she’s not making stickers, she is a freelance illustrator and graphic designer.

As an artist, she said she takes inspiration from diverse artistic styles, including Christian iconography, chibi-style anime and vibrant tattoo art.

“Just pursue your passion,” she said. “I think that’s what is really going to drive you. … That’s what’s going to get you moving. You’ll want to do it.”

Jeanne Schabath-Lewis, from the Sterling Heights Arts Commission, commented on Mattos’ art.

“It’s an unusual medium, the little stickers,” Schabath-Lewis said. “I was really excited. So many people think about art in the traditional sense, like portraits. … I’m definitely glad we brought this different dimension to the city.”

Find out more about artist Marie Mattos by visiting mariemattos.com. To learn more about the SaintSprouts stickers, visit Saintsprouts.com or follow @SaintSprouts on Instagram.